1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic lawn treatment devices, and more particularly pertains to a device for mixing a lawn treatment chemical with irrigation water at a controlled rate and distributing the treated water through a sprinkler head. Various types of liquid chemicals such as fertilizers and weed killers are available for treating lawns. These chemicals are conventionally distributed through hand-held sprayers which require constant manual attention. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention provide an automatic device for dispensing a predetermined quantity of a lawn treatment chemical at a controlled rate through a rotating sprinkler.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of lawn treatment devices are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a device is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,916, which issued to H. Neel on Apr. 2, 1963. This patent discloses a cylindrical cartridge for attachment on an end portion of a garden hose. The cartridge has a hollow body portion which receives solid cylindrical blocks of a lawn treatment chemical. U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,146, which issued to M. Pacheco on Apr. 8, 1975, discloses an automatic plant waterer and fertilizing system including a reservoir connected by a plurality of capillary feed lines to spaced individual plants. U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,399, which issued to J. Halley on Feb. 10, 1976, discloses a device for feeding a quantity of a solid chemical into a stream of liquid by directing a jet of liquid onto a solid soluble body containing the chemical. A chamber receives a solid body of chemical compositions which is soluble when exposed to a jet of water or other liquid. The device includes an elongated tube mounted at an inclined angle relative to a horizontal surface and provided with liquid inlet and outlets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,396, which issued to G. Konucik on May 29, 1979, discloses a root irrigation and fertilization device including a main body having a perforated sleeve adapted for insertion into a ground surface for introducing a controlled amount of water and liquid fertilizer to underground plant roots. U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,179, which issued to P. Knapp on July 20, 1982, discloses a lawn treatment device comprising a cylindrical cartridge adapted for in-line connection in a garden hose. The cartridge comprises a gel with plant nutrient and a water soluble dye suspended therein, with the cartridge having a bore communicating with inlet and outlet connections.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to lawn treatment apparatus for mixing a treatment chemical with irrigation water, none of these devices disclose a reservoir and a sprinkler head combined as an integral unit. Additionally, none of aforesaid devices disclose a reservoir having a siphon nozzle for mixing a liquid lawn treatment chemical with irrigation water from a supply source and including an automatic shut off valve. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of automatic lawn treatment devices, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such automatic lawn treatment devices, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.